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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Technology Solutions Case Study: Innovative Retrofit Foundation Insulation Strategies, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Basements in climates 6 & 7 can account for a fraction of a home's total heat loss when fully conditioned. These foundations are a source of moisture, with convection in open block cavities redistributing water from the wall base, usually when heating. Even when block cavities are capped, the cold foundation concrete can act as a moisture source for wood rim joist components that are in contact with the wall. As below-grade basements are increasingly retrofitted for habitable space, cold foundation walls pose increased challenges for moisture durability, energy use, and occupant comfort. To address this challenge, the NorthernSTAR Building America Partnership evaluated a retrofit insulation strategy for foundations that is designed for use with open-core concrete block foundation walls. The three main goals were to improve moisture control, improve occupant comfort, and reduce heat loss.

Building America↗
DOE OSTI2016

Building America Case Study: Accelerating the Delivery of Home-Performance Upgrades Using a Synergistic Business Model, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Achieving Building America energy savings goals (40 percent by 2030) will require many existing homes to install energy upgrades. Engaging large numbers of homeowners in building science-guided upgrades during a single remodeling event has been difficult for a number of reasons. Performance upgrades in existing homes tend to occur over multiple years and usually result from component failures (furnace failure) and weather damage (ice dams, roofing, siding). This research attempted to: A) Understand the homeowner's motivations regarding investing in building science based performance upgrades. B) Determining a rapidly scalable approach to engage large numbers of homeowners directly through existing customer networks. C) Access a business model that will manage all aspects of the contractor-homeowner-performance professional interface to ensure good upgrade decisions over time. The solution results from a synergistic approach utilizing networks of suppliers merging with networks of homeowner customers. Companies in the $400 to $800 billion home services industry have proven direct marketing and sales proficiencies that have led to the development of vast customer networks. Companies such as pest control, lawn care, and security have nurtured these networks by successfully addressing the ongoing needs of homes. This long-term access to customers and trust established with consistent delivery has also provided opportunities for home service providers to grow by successfully introducing new products and services like attic insulation and air sealing. The most important component for success is a business model that will facilitate and manage the process. The team analyzes a group that developed a working model.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2016

Building America Case Study: Demonstration House of Cold-Climate Solutions for Affordable Housing, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Single family homes in urban areas that are available for renovation by nonprofit developers are often in rough shape (1MM to 2MM nationally). Budgeting has historically focused on improving homes to meet basic housing standards. A rising interest in the long-term impact of homeownership has introduced the need to balance basic needs with home performance. This demonstration project aims to help nonprofit affordable housing developers become familiar with three Building America performance measures, the installation processes, and impacts and benefits of each. A story and a half home in North Minneapolis, MN was presented by Urban Homeworks our local nonprofit partner. The team helped them install three researched upgrade measures: exterior roof insulation or 'overcoat,' exterior foundation insulation, or 'excavationless', and a combined space and water heating HVAC system or 'combi'. To maximize efficiency of application and to address budget issues, the Team worked with Urban Homeworks to identify ways to use volunteers and construction training programs to install the measures. An open invitation to visit the job site was extended to other nonprofit developers and industry partners to encourage dialog about the systems during live installation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2017

Building America Case Study: Simple Retrofit High-Efficiency Natural Gas Water Heater Field Test, Minneapolis, Minnesota

High performance water heaters are typically more time consuming and costly to install in retrofit applications, making high performance water heaters difficult to justify economically. However, recent advancements in high performance water heaters have targeted the retrofit market, simplifying installations and reducing costs. Four high efficiency natural gas water heaters designed specifically for retrofit applications were installed in single-family homes along with detailed monitoring systems to characterize their savings potential, their installed efficiencies, and their ability to meet household demands. The water heaters tested for this project were designed to improve the cost-effectiveness and increase market penetration of high efficiency water heaters in the residential retrofit market. The retrofit high efficiency water heaters achieved their goal of reducing costs, maintaining savings potential and installed efficiency of other high efficiency water heaters, and meeting the necessary capacity in order to improve cost-effectiveness. However, the improvements were not sufficient to achieve simple paybacks of less than ten years for the incremental cost compared to a minimum efficiency heater. Significant changes would be necessary to reduce the simple payback to six years or less. Annual energy savings in the range of $200 would also reduce paybacks to less than six years. These energy savings would require either significantly higher fuel costs (greater than $1.50 per therm) or very high usage (around 120 gallons per day). For current incremental costs, the water heater efficiency would need to be similar to that of a heat pump water heater to deliver a six year payback.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2017

Building America Case Study: Simple Retrofit High-Efficiency Natural Gas Water Heater Field Test, Minneapolis, Minnesota

High-performance water heaters are typically more time consuming and costly to install in retrofit applications, making high-performance water heaters difficult to justify economically. However, recent advancements in high-performance water heaters have targeted the retrofit market, simplifying installations and reducing costs. Four high-efficiency natural gas water heaters designed specifically for retrofit applications were installed in single-family homes along with detailed monitoring systems to characterize their savings potential, their installed efficiencies, and their ability to meet household demands.

Building America↗
DOE OSTI2024

Pathways Toward Electric Mobility in Hennepin County, Minnesota

This fact sheet presents the findings from a comprehensive community engagement initiative focused on advancing equitable transportation electrification in Hennepin County. This initiative responds to the critical need for inclusive and sustainable mobility solutions in the face of rising environmental and financial challenges in the transportation sector. This project has two goals. First, to learn what each community's priorities are and share them with the city, county, and state government to inform transportation plans and projects. Second, to bridge divides between government and community, building pathways for community-guided decision making on future transportation plans.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,ENERGY PLANNING, POLIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Growth performance of hybrid poplar clones on two agricultural sites with and without early irrigation and fertilization

Growth, clone rank, genotype x environment interaction, and effects of early fertilization and irrigation were evaluated for 56 hybrid poplar clones after three years’ growth on two agricultural sites in Indiana, USA. Forty-eight percent of the clones were Populus deltoides x P. nigra (DxN) crosses made with a female parent of Minnesota provenance, with the hybrids or female parent screened in Minnesota for survival, growth rate, and disease tolerance or resistance. Forty-one percent of the clones had at least one parent from provenances that are more southerly and/or have more moderate climates of provenance origin than Minnesota. Eleven percent of the clones were screened in Minnesota but were either not DXN crosses or did not have parents from Minnesota provenances in their parentage. Height growth averaged 1.78 m per year for all clones over all treatments and 2.02 m per year for the fastest- growing six clones (top 10 th percentile). Tree bole volume for the fastest-growing 10 % of the clones was 70 % larger than the average of two commercial standard clones. The clonal effect was dominant in comparison to site, treatment, and interaction effects. The fertilizer, irrigation, and fertilizer x irrigation treatments tended to increase growth, but the statistical significance of the treatment effects differed by site, and the treatments explained only a small portion of the variance. Clone rank was the same on both sites, regardless of treatment, except for the fertilizer x irrigation treatment. DxN clones linked to Minnesota parentage out-performed most clones of more southerly or other more moderate climatic origins, in these tests conducted far south of Minnesota. The data provide further evidence of broad adaptability of DxN hybrids with female P. deltoides parents of Minnesota provenance, possibly eliminating the need for narrow breeding zones and reducing the number of screening tests needed at different latitudes, saving time and money. Tests are planned to further analyze and possibly extend this inference.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Xcel Energy – LBNL ‘Beyond Widgets’ Project. Workstation Specific Lighting with Daylight Dimming Controls System Program Manual

This program manual was developed through a U.S. Department of Energy project to develop streamlined utility program approaches to the deployment of integrated systems in commercial offices. Integrated systems present deep opportunities for energy savings, however by nature these systems have additional levels of complexity and effort required for their design and energy savings assessment, which create barriers for utility incentive programs to develop streamlined cost effective incentive programs to capture these savings. This project worked with Xcel Energy in Colorado and Minnesota to select an integrated system and develop a streamlined approach to its deployment for small and large commercial offices. Xcel Energy worked with LBNL to select a workstation specific lighting system with daylight dimming controls, applied as a retrofit in commercial office spaces. Previous studies indicated a potential lighting annual energy savings of 28-63%, with an average of 47% for this system type, due to reduced fixture LPD and controls only, not including a full fixture replacement from a condition such as T8 to LED. Xcel also had a desire to incorporate this fixture replacement in their integrated system package, and as a result annual energy lighting savings are expected to be higher. FLEXLAB testing of the system for 500 lux minimum output conditions translated into a 94% annual energy savings for this system. Market analysis was developed for large and medium commercial office buildings in Xcel’s Minnesota and Colorado markets showing a potential for 48-295 and 120-672 GWh of energy savings potential for Colorado and Minnesota respectively. Total Resource Costs (TRC) vary by location and technology package used (enterprise versus non-enterprise lighting controls system), and vary from 0.29 to 1.27 and 0.06 and 0.44 for a Retrofit case, and 0.20 to 1.63 and 0.07 to 0.57 for a Replace on Burnout strategy for Colorado and Minnesota respectively. These results indicate good potential for demonstrating a strong technical and economic case for deployment of this system type in Xcel’s Colorado territory, while deployment in the Minnesota market may be advisable as well as part of a portfolio of programs, or as an effort to help shift the market into integrated systems deployment in general. It should be noted that the cost of avoided energy in both markets is significantly low ($0.07/kWh for Minnesota, $0.08/kWh for Colorado), and these TRC values would not be representative of deployment potential in other markets with higher utility rates. In addition, installation costs used for these systems may decrease with time, further enhancing their return on investment. Overall, workstation specific lighting systems with daylight dimming controls present a very strong potential for cost effective lighting energy savings, as demonstrated by the FLEXLAB test results and previous case studies. Further energy savings may be realized from the use of fixture-specific occupancy sensors as well, although this approach was not considered in this study.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2011

Financial Innovation Among the Community Wind Sector in the United States

In the relatively brief history of utility-scale wind generation, the 'community wind' sector - defined here as consisting of relatively small utility-scale wind power projects that are at least partly owned by one or more members of the local community - has played a vitally important role as a 'test bed' or 'proving ground' for wind turbine manufacturers. In the 1980s and 1990s, for example, Vestas and other now-established European wind turbine manufacturers relied heavily on community wind projects in Scandinavia and Germany to install - and essentially field-test - new turbine designs. The fact that orders from community wind projects seldom exceeded more than a few turbines at a time enabled the manufacturers to correct any design flaws or manufacturing defects fairly rapidly, and without the risk of extensive (and expensive) serial defects that can accompany larger orders. Community wind has been slower to take root in the United States - the first such projects were installed in the state of Minnesota around the year 2000. Just as in Europe, however, the community wind sector in the U.S. has similarly served as a proving ground - but in this case for up-and-coming wind turbine manufacturers that are trying to break into the broader U.S. wind power market. For example, community wind projects have deployed the first U.S. installations of wind turbines from Suzlon (in 2003), DeWind (2008), Americas Wind Energy (2008) and later Emergya Wind Technologies (2010),1 Goldwind (2009), AAER/Pioneer (2009), Nordic Windpower (2010), Unison (2010), and Alstom (2011). Just as it has provided a proving ground for new turbines, so too has the community wind sector in the United States served as a laboratory for experimentation with innovative new financing structures. For example, a variation of one of the most common financing arrangements in the U.S. wind market today - the 'partnership flip structure' - was first developed by community wind projects in Minnesota more than a decade ago (and is therefore sometimes referred to as the 'Minnesota flip' model) before being adapted by the broader wind market. More recently, a handful of community wind projects built in the United States over the past year have been financed via new and creative structures that push the envelope of wind project finance in the U.S. - in many cases, moving beyond the now-standard partnership flip structures. These projects include: (1) a 4.5 MW project in Maine that combines low-cost government debt with local tax equity, (2) a 25.3 MW project in Minnesota using a sale/leaseback structure, (3) a 10.5 MW project in South Dakota financed by an intrastate offering of both debt and equity, (4) a 6 MW project in Washington state that taps into 'New Markets Tax Credits' using an 'inverted' or 'pass-through' lease structure, and (5) a 9 MW project in Oregon that combines a variety of state and federal incentives and loans with unconventional equity from high-net-worth individuals. In most cases, these are first-of-their-kind financing structures that could serve as useful examples for other projects - both community and commercial wind alike. This new wave of financial innovation occurring in the community wind sector has been facilitated by policy changes, most of them recent. Most notably, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ('the Recovery Act') enables, for a limited time, wind power (and other types of) projects to elect either a 30% investment tax credit ('ITC') or a 30% cash grant (the 'Section 1603 grant') in lieu of the federal incentive that has historically been available to wind projects in the U.S. - a 10-year production tax credit ('PTC'). This flexibility, in turn, enables wind power projects to pursue lease financing for the first time - leasing is not possible under the PTC. Because they are based on a project's cost rather than energy generation, the 30% ITC and Section 1603 grant also reduce performance risk relative to the PTC - this, too, is an important enabler of lease financing. Finally, by providing a cash rather than tax incentive, the Section 1603 grant alone reduces (but does not eliminate) the need for tax appetite among project owners. All of these policy changes can be particularly useful to community wind projects, and have helped to support the different financial structures mentioned above. This special report - which is distilled from a longer Berkeley Lab report - briefly describes just two of these innovative new financing structures: the sale/leaseback structure used in Minnesota and the intrastate offering conducted in South Dakota. Readers interested in more detail on these two structures, as well as the other three projects not covered here, are encouraged to reference the full Berkeley Lab report.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

MCCCS-MN

The MCCCS‒MN (Monte Carlo for Complex Chemical Systems‒Minnesota) software is developed by the Siepmann research group at the University of Minnesota. MCCCS‒MN allows for the simulation of multi-component molecular systems in the canonical, isobaric-isothermal (including constant stress for solids), grand-canonical, semi-grand, and Gibbs (NVT, NPT, and more than two simulation boxes) ensembles. It uses the configurational-bias Monte Carlo method to efficiently sample phase space for linear, branched and cyclic chain molecules, the adiabatic nuclear and electronic sampling Monte Carlo method to treat many-body polarization effects, and the aggregation-volume-bias Monte Carlo algorithm to efficiently sample the spatial distribution of associating molecules. MCCCS-MN employs a molecular representation of the system where force fields contain bonded and non-bonded terms. Funding for the development of MCCCS-MN through grants from the National Science Foundation (simulation of fluid phase equilibria and chromatography) and the Department of Energy (simulation of adsorption equilibria) is gratefully acknowledged.

Siepmann, J.Ilja [University of Minnesota - Twin C↗
DOE OSTI2011

Community Wind: Once Again Pushing the Envelope of Project Finance

In the United States, the 'community wind' sector - loosely defined here as consisting of relatively small utility-scale wind power projects that sell power on the wholesale market and that are developed and owned primarily by local investors - has historically served as a 'test bed' or 'proving grounds' for up-and-coming wind turbine manufacturers that are trying to break into the U.S. wind power market. For example, community wind projects - and primarily those located in the state of Minnesota - have deployed the first U.S. installations of wind turbines from Suzlon (in 2003), DeWind (2008), Americas Wind Energy (2008) and later Emergya Wind Technologies (2010), Goldwind (2009), AAER/Pioneer (2009), Nordic Windpower (2010), Unison (2010), and Alstom (2011). Thus far, one of these turbine manufacturers - Suzlon - has subsequently achieved some success in the broader U.S. wind market as well. Just as it has provided a proving grounds for new turbines, so too has the community wind sector served as a laboratory for experimentation with innovative new financing structures. For example, a variation of one of the most common financing arrangements in the U.S. wind market today - the special allocation partnership flip structure (see Figure 1 in Section 2.1) - was first developed by community wind projects in Minnesota more than a decade ago (and is therefore sometimes referred to as the 'Minnesota flip' model) before being adopted by the broader wind market. More recently, a handful of community wind projects built over the past year have been financed via new and creative structures that push the envelope of wind project finance in the U.S. - in many cases, moving beyond the now-standard partnership flip structures involving strategic tax equity investors. These include: (1) a 4.5 MW project in Maine that combines low-cost government debt with local tax equity, (2) a 25.3 MW project in Minnesota using a sale/leaseback structure, (3) a 10.5 MW project in South Dakota financed by an intrastate offering of both debt and equity, (4) a 6 MW project in Washington state that taps into New Markets Tax Credits using an 'inverted' or 'pass-through' lease structure, and (5) a 9 MW project in Oregon that combines a variety of state and federal incentives and loans with unconventional equity from high-net-worth individuals. In most cases, these are first-of-their-kind structures that could serve as useful examples for other projects - both community and commercial wind alike. This report describes each of these innovative new financing structures in some detail, using a case-study approach. The purpose is twofold: (1) to disseminate useful information on these new financial structures, most of which are widely replicable; and (2) to highlight the recent policy changes - many of them temporary unless extended - that have facilitated this innovation. Although the community wind market is currently only a small sub-sector of the U.S. wind market - as defined here, less than 2% of the overall market at the end of 2009 (Wiser and Bolinger 2010) - its small size belies its relevance to the broader market. As such, the information provided in this report has relevance beyond its direct application to the community wind sector. The next two sections of this report briefly summarize how most community wind projects in the U.S. have been financed historically (i.e., prior to this latest wave of innovation) and describe the recent federal policy changes that have enabled a new wave of financial innovation to occur, respectively. Section 4 contains brief case studies of how each of the five projects mentioned above were financed, noting the financial significance of each. Finally, Section 5 concludes by distilling a number of general observations or pertinent lessons learned from the experiences of these five projects.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Pollinator habitat in solar facilities has potential to support high diversity of bee species

Conversion of agricultural and degraded lands to solar energy production provides opportunities to support diverse bee communities—and their pollination services—by creating habitat at solar facilities. Habitat restoration for bees at solar facilities follows the general principle of installing a diverse flowering plant community and assuming bees will come. However, selecting seed mixes for solar facilities is challenging because selected plants need to establish in the unique abiotic conditions of solar facilities and not interfere with solar energy production (tall plants may shade panels). Recent research tested commercially available and bespoke pollinator mixes for establishment success in Minnesota solar facilities and identified 14 forb species that established successfully over three years of the experiment. We ask an important follow-up question: how many native bee species, and which bee species, are these 14 plant species capable of supporting? We used a plant-bee interaction data set from Minnesota to calculate the number of bee species that would be supported by the 14 plant species for the duration of their flight seasons using a published bee species richness function. We found 122 unique bee species (24% of Minnesota diversity) may be supported for their entire flight seasons by the 14 focal plants.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2010

Next Generation Metallic Iron Nodule Technology in Electric Arc Steelmaking - Phase II

The current trend in the steel industry is a gradual decline in conventional steelmaking from taconite pellets in blast furnaces, and an increasing number of alternative processes using metallic scrap iron, pig iron and metallized iron ore products. Currently, iron ores from Minnesota and Michigan are pelletized and shipped to the lower Great Lakes ports as blast furnace feed. The existing transportation system and infrastructure is geared to handling these bulk materials. In order to expand the opportunities for the existing iron ore mines beyond their blast furnace customer base, a new material is needed to satisfy the needs of the emerging steel industry while utilizing the existing infrastructure and materials handling. A recent commercial installation employing Kobe Steel’s ITmk3 process, was installed in Northeastern Minnesota. The basic process uses a moving hearth furnace to directly reduce iron oxides to metallic iron from a mixture of iron ore, coals and additives. The resulting products can be shipped using the existing infrastructure for use in various steelmaking processes. The technology reportedly saves energy by 30% over the current integrated steelmaking process and reduces emissions by more than 40%. A similar large-scale pilot plant campaign is also currently in progress using JFE Steel’s Hi-QIP process in Japan. The objective of this proposal is to build upon and improve the technology demonstrated by Kobe Steel and JFE, by further reducing cost, improving quality and creating added incentive for commercial development. This project expands previous research conducted at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute and that reported by Kobe and JFE Steel. Three major issues have been identified and are addressed in this project for producing high-quality nodular reduced iron (NRI) at low cost: (1) reduce the processing temperature, (2) control the furnace gas atmosphere over the NRI, and (3) effectively use sub-bituminous coal as a reductant. From over 4000 laboratory tube and box furnace tests, it was established that the correct combination of additives, fluxes, and reductant while controlling the concentration of CO and CO2 in the furnace atmosphere (a) lowers the operating temperature, (b) decreases the use of reductant coal (c) generates less micro nodules of iron, and (d) promotes desulphurization. The laboratory scale work was subsequently verified on 12.2 m (40 ft) long pilot scale furnace. High quality NRI could be produced on a routine basis using the pilot furnace facility with energy provided from oxy-gas or oxy-coal burner technologies. Specific strategies were developed to allow the use of sub-bituminous coals both as a hearth material and as part of the reaction mixture. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling was used to study the overall carbothermic reduction and smelting process. The movement of the furnace gas on a pilot hearth furnace and larger simulated furnaces and various means of controlling the gas atmosphere were evaluated. Various atmosphere control methods were identified and tested during the course of the investigation. Based on the results, the appropriate modifications to the furnace were made and tested at the pilot scale. A series of reduction and smelting tests were conducted to verify the utility of the processing conditions. During this phase, the overall energy use characteristics, raw materials, alternative fuels, and the overall economics predicted for full scale implementation were analyzed. The results indicate that it should be possible to lower reaction temperatures while simultaneously producing low sulfur, high carbon NRI if the right mix chemistry and atmosphere are employed. Recommendations for moving the technology to the next stage of commercialization are presented.

Carbon↗
DOE OSTI2013

An Industry/Academe Consortium for Achieving 20% wind by 2030 through Cutting-Edge Research and Workforce Training

In January 2010, the University of Minnesota, along with academic and industry project partners, began work on a four year project to establish new facilities and research in strategic areas of wind energy necessary to move the nation towards a goal of 20% wind energy by 2030. The project was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy with funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. $7.9M of funds were provided by DOE and $3.1M was provided through matching funds. The project was organized into three Project Areas. Project Area 1 focused on design and development of a utility scale wind energy research facility to support research and innovation. The project commissioned the Eolos Wind Research Field Station in November of 2011. The site, located 20 miles from St. Paul, MN operates a 2.5MW Clipper Liberty C-96 wind turbine, a 130-ft tall sensored meteorological tower and a robust sensor and data acquisition network. The site is operational and will continue to serve as a site for innovation in wind energy for the next 15 years. Project Areas 2 involved research on six distinct research projects critical to the 20% Wind Energy by 2030 goals. The research collaborations involved faculty from two universities, over nine industry partners and two national laboratories. Research outcomes include new knowledge, patents, journal articles, technology advancements, new computational models and establishment of new collaborative relationships between university and industry. Project Area 3 focused on developing educational opportunities in wind energy for engineering and science students. The primary outcome is establishment of a new graduate level course at the University of Minnesota called Wind Engineering Essentials. The seminar style course provides a comprehensive analysis of wind energy technology, economics, and operation. The course is highly successful and will continue to be offered at the University. The vision of U.S. DOE to establish unique, open-access research facilities and creation of university-industry research collaborations in wind energy were achieved through this project. The University of Minnesota, through the establishment of the Eolos Wind Energy Consortium and the Eolos Wind Research Field Station continue to develop new research collaborations with industry partners.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1982

An Integration of a GIS with Peatland Management

The complexities of peatland management in Minnesota and the use of a geographic information system, the Minnesota Land Management Information System (MLMIS) in the management process are examined. General information on the nature of peat and it quantity and distribution in Minnesota is also presented.

Hoshal, J. C.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Final Technical Report for ARRA Funding

Final technical report of the University of Minnesota experimental high energy physics group for ARRA support. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Experiment (CDMS) used the funds received to construct a new passive shield to protect a high-purity germanium detector located in the Soudan mine in Northern Minnesota from cosmic rays. The BESIII and the CMS groups purchased computing hardware to assemble computer farms for data analysis and to generate large volumes of simulated data for comparison with the data collected.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2019

Evaluating Utility Costs Savings for EV Charging Infrastructure [Slides]

This analysis was conducted under the first round of the Solar Energy Innovation Network (SEIN), a program led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) that assembles diverse teams of stakeholders to research solutions to real-world challenges associated with solar energy adoption. As part of the Solar Energy Innovation Network, NREL used a tool called REopt to evaluate the impact on utility costs of light duty electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Minnesota. The analysis models EV chargers at medium offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Specifically, the analysis explores three questions: (a) How can photovoltaics (PV) and stationary storage be co-deployed with EV charging infrastructure to lower the cost of purchasing grid electricity? (b) What are the potential savings of co-locating EV charging infrastructure with (behind the meter of) a commercial building? and (c) What savings can be gained from optimizing the times at which the EVs are charged to decrease lifecycle costs? Note that this presentation is not indented to be presented widely, but is just to provide ReOpt outputs for the partner's use.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Solar Potential Analysis for the MISO Region

As part of the Minnesota Solar Pathways project, funded in part by the Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office, Clean Power Research completed a scenario-based analysis that estimates and optimizes the levelized cost of capacity for high renewables penetrations across the entirety of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) region. The analysis concludes that it can be cheaper to overbuild solar + wind and curtail surplus than to store all generation. The analysis described in this report was preceded by an analysis completed in 2018 that used the same modeling framework to optimize generation resources located only in Minnesota.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗